This fortress-like residential project is home to many remarkable opposites. The stone masonry base of this luxury cliffside beach house is carved right into the rock of a jutting cliff top, while the ultra-modern upper stories stretch and bend against the organic confines of their natural surroundings.

In isolation, it almost looks like a forgotten modern monument set atop an ancient abandoned ruin. The beach itself sits many stories below, reachable only by a series of half-hidden paths that are cut into the side of the steep and jagged cliff face.

Sited along the rocky desert shores of the Pacific Ocean in Peru, this retreat by Longhi Architects cuts multiple stories into the earth below while lofting a set of glass-sided boxes up, out and over a series of pools and walkways below.

These overlapping boxes move upward from the smooth intersection of road and site, topped with sand-covered roofs that serve as regionally-appropriate alternatives in a climate not ready to support strictly ‘green’ surfaces.

From within the home, the views out are (naturally) remarkable on the higher levels, but equally impressive are the ways in which the lower floors are left raw and rough-cut, looking almost like abandoned and half-buried ruins on top of which the rest of the structure was built.

To be fair, this beautiful site no doubt made for many inspiring design opportunities, but the architects deserve much credit for taking advantage of all available elements – views, materials and potential paths that wind their way throughout.

“Conceived as the place where the arid Peruvian desert meets the Pacific Ocean, this beach house located at Punta Misterio 117 km. south of Lima, is an intervention where the integration of architecture and landscape was an important concern.”

“Sand garden roofs act as the extension of the desert; lap and recreation pools connect the ocean with the house, while a glass box hangs from the structure symbolizing architecture between sand and water.”